Spinning top



(No Model.)

W. E. ROBINSON. SPINNING TOP;

Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

N. PETERS. Plmm-Limwgmymer. Washingtm D4 E,

-in the form of a hollow case or box.

UNITED STATES APATENT OFFICE.

WALSTEIN E. ROBINSON, OF BELLPORT, NEW YORK.

SPINNING TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,749, dated August 13, 1889.

Application iiled April 8, 1889. Serial No. 306,355. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALsTEIN E. ROBINSON, of Bellport, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inV Spinning Tops, of which the following is a speciiieation.

The object of my improvement is to produce a top which may be `constantly spun.

I will describe a top embodying my improvement, and then point out the novel features in a claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side view of a top embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a' sectional elevation-of the same.

Similarvletters of reference ydesignate co1'- responding parts in all the-figures.

A designates atop, which, as here shown, is made to taper from the middle toward both the upper and lower ends. It is embellished with various fanciful moldings. I design it especially for a humming top, and to this end I make it hollow and provide it with a suitable opening a. Any number of openings can be made in it. Sheet metal may be the material of which the top is made.

B designates a rotary spindle. It is journaled in a base-piece C, here shown as made It may be made of wood or metal, or both combined. The spindle has a step-bearing b in the foot c of the base-piece, and is held in a bearing h2 in the head c2 of the base-piece.

On the spindle is affixed a barrel D. When this barrel is rotated, a similar rotary movement will be imparted to the spindle. A string or equivalent device is at one end attached to the barrel and afterward wound many times around the same and at the other end extended to a point where it can conveniently be pulled. As shown, the free end of the string is extended through a slot c3 in the base-piece, and has a ring d at its extremity.

E is a helical spring coiled around the spindle above the barrel 1). At one end it is' secured to act'on the spindle for the purpose of rotating it-as, for instance, by fastening it to the barrel. The other end is fastened to the base-piece C-as, for example, to the head c2 of the latter.Y This spring is coiled around the spindle in a direction the reverse of that in`which the string is wound around the barrel; hence whenever the string is pulled the spring will be put under tension and when the string is slackened the spring will rotate the spindle in a direction the reverse of that in which the spindle was rotated by the string. I

The top. A is loosely mounted upon the spindle B, so that it can turn around the same. By means of a pawl G and ratchet-wheel II the top is engaged with the spindle to rotate with it in one direction. As represented, the ratchet is affixed to the top and the pawl to the spindle. The pawl is pivotally secured in place and impelled against the ratchet for the purpose of engaging with its teeth by means of gravity or a spring I. The teeth of the ratchet extend in such direction thatwhen the string is pulled the spindle will be rotated such a way as not to impart motion to the top, and that when the spring imparts motion to the spindle the spindle will carry the top with it. the top to spin continuously by intermittently pulling the string.

By Inyimprovement I produce a simple and inexpensive toy which will prove highly amusing to the possessor. y

Vh at I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isn rIhe combination, with the hollow base, of a spindle having journal-bearings inthe base, a drum on the spindle within the base, a spring coiled around the spindle within the base, having one end secured to the base and Owing to this -it is possible to cause the other end secured to the spindle, a cordv l secured to the drum, a top loosely mounted on the spindle, a ratchet on the top, and a pawl on the spindle engaging with the ratchet, the said top being rotated by the action of the spring, substantially as specified.

Y WALSTEIN E. ROBINSON. Witnesses:

CAROLINE D. GOLDTIIWAITE, LoTTIE M. OsBoRNE. 

